10 Times You Might Have Missed The Age Difference Between Movie Duos Due To How Well They Performed

Talent is a wonderful thing and these actors are here to prove this!

Maryjane

• Published in Film & TV
• March 12, 2022

It's fairly common for actors to portray characters who aren't their exact age. Talent is a wonderful thing.

If not, how do you explain the fact that good actors can play such roles? Older actors can easily turn into school students, or even teenagers, and younger actors can easily turn into shrewd adults without the viewer noticing.

Certainly, every movie fan has their favorite actors and films, and they are also likely to know a thing or two about the real people who play the most iconic characters on the big screen. While age is certainly just a number, fans may be surprised to learn that their favorite movie duos (whether they are family members, romantic couples, or best friends) are actually played by actors with significant age gaps in real life.

The fans' perceptions of this action-packed film or the actors may change as a result of this. While some films directly address the large age gap between characters, others simply ignore it, leaving viewers in for a surprise when they discover the actual age of the actors playing the roles!

People have watched some of your favorite movies and discovered some on-screen couples with surprisingly large age differences in real life. Keep scrolling and get ready to be wowed!

1. Time (2011) - Justin Timberlake and Olivia Wilde

Olivia Wilde acts as Justin Timberlake’s mother. In the film, she was 50 years old, and her son is 28. But in reality, Olivia was 27 years old and Justin was 30.

2. The Lord of the Rings (2001) - Orlando Bloom, Sean Astin, Elijah Wood

Orlando Bloom who was only 24 years old when the film was released acted as Legolas. His partners were Sean Astin and Elijah Wood who acted as 38 year old Samwise Gamgee but was 20 and 50 years old Frodo Baggins but was 39. 

3. Beowulf (2007) - Angelina Jolie and Crispin Glover

Crispin Glover is actually 11 years older than Angelina Jolie but she acted as Grendel’s mother. Then, she was 32 years old and he was 43.

4. The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) - Leonardo DiCaprio and Margot Robbie

Leonardo DiCaprio and Margot Robbie played an intense couple but DiCaprio is actually 16 years older than Robbie.

5. The Vampire Diaries (2009) - Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder

Dobrev and Somerhalder play a couple. Nina acted as a 17-year-old high school student but was 20 years old when the show started. Ian was 31 but he acted as a 145-year-old vampire.

6. Mamma Mia! 2 (2018) - Meryl Streep and Cher

Cher acts as Meryl Streep’s mother and was so convincing but Cher is only 3 years older than Streep.

7. Beauty and the Beast (2017) - Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans

Belle was acted by the 27 year old Emma Watson and the Beast acted by Dan Stevens is 35. Luke Evans was 38 years old then.

8. Seven (1995) - Brad Pitt and Gwyneth Paltrow

As at that time, Paltrow 23 years old and Pitt was 32.

9. Girl, Interrupted (1999) - Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie

28-year-old Winona Ryder acted as a high school student 24-year-old Angelina acted as a 24-year-old girl.

10. Pulp Fiction (1994) - John Travolta and Uma Thurman

Both looked so great that you wouldn't notice the huge age difference. At that time, Thurman was 24 years old and Travolta was 40.

Wow, it’s really amazing how people can act characters that are way beyond their age. And not just that, they act them so well that no one actually notices the difference.

Now that you have read about the reality of some of your favorite movie duos, what are your thoughts about their age differences? 

Maryjane